Is it worth saving?

[Doug Whitson]

Hi All, I got this pepperwood tree from a neighbor down the street. It looked freshly cut so I brought it home and made a couple of blanks, chucked one up and started shaping it. I left it on the lathe, had some lunch, came back about 2 hours later and she split all over the place. My question is should I try to save it? Is there such a thing? Can I CA all the cracks and keep on turning? Or is it just custom fire wood?
Thanks for the input,
Later,
Doug in AZ. 49359

49360

[Frank Fusco]

Leave the cracks and call it art. ;)

[Jim Becker]

As long as you feel comfortable that the item is not "getting worst" as you cut it, get out the thick CA and have at it! You have nothing to lose by turning to completion other than your time. And if it does blow up, you still have the experience of turning it under your belt.

[Bernie Weishapl]

CA the cracks and finish it. Looks pretty good to me.

[Andy Hoyt]

Doug - Here are a few things to contemplate.

I only chuck up something green when I have an expectation to completely rough it one uninterupted session.

My limited experience with fruit woods is that things like this happen quite often and regardless of any mitigation efforts on my part. I'm guessing that Pepperwood is a fruit wood.

It takes a catastrophic failure or some other unscheduled event to get me to stop a piece once started. Even if I know the piece is headed south I'll do this just to learn from what happens.

Those splits look awfully big, gonna take a lot of CA. Maybe epoxy would be better, but I don't give either much hope.

Even if the piece has had the radish with respect to ever becoming a finished turning, it will still provide ample opportunity to work on all manner of technique. And given your previous hardships with finding turning stock, allow me to close with, "Git 'er done!"

Oh! And what's that cool looking spindle thing in the background?

[Mark Pruitt]

I was under the impression that CA was not effective with turning "wet" pieces. Is this a myth that needs to be dispelled?

[Doug Whitson]

Hi All and thanks for the replies. Looks like a good learning session comming on. Guess I'll do the epoxy thing, but I need to color it with something, I kinda like the look of the black stuff. Trans tint dyes? What mixes well with epoxy?

As for the spindle thing, it's a handle for one of those home made screwdriver kits, I've been playing around with different spirals and stuff.

49378

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Doug,

I saved a wet turned NE that developed cracks while turning by using coffee grounds and epoxy. I mixed coffee grounds with 5 minute epoxy and poured and pushed it with popsickle sticks into the cracks. I let it set over night. I rechucked it and successfully finished turned it. The LOML and my MIL were visiting the grandkids in Washington state at the time. When they returned, my MIL who was visiting us from Illinois, said "it's mine isn't it?"...........The wood, a piece of peach from a fellow Creeker, was perhaps the prettiest piece of wood I've had the pleasure of turning. The NE now resides in central Illinois.

Just be cautious if you decide to repair it and finish turn it.....I'm nearly deaf and my lathe is mounted on the "diving board". I watched for unusual vibrations while finish turning it. It was the unusual vibrations that signaled to me that the cracks were developing while I was initially turning it. Don't place yourself in the direct line of fire should it decide to separate after your efforts. Good luck with your decision!

[Sean Troy]

It looks more like African Sumac which is plentiful where you are. Go for it. If it is Sumac, it will turn a lot more red as the light gets to it.

[Reed Gray]

If you are going to turn a piece of green wood, turn it start to finish. If left alone for a while it will split. You can put a plastic bag over it , and include wet shavings and/or water to keep the humidity high. Never start on the inside and leave it, it will move a lot, and in very little time. You can save the piece as is with a bit of work and glue, but I usually will try to turn out the cracks (a design opportunity), or scrap the piece. Some times it takes more time than it is worth unless the wood is special. It is a good exercise to try to save it just to learn how, but from a production turner's point of view, for a utility bowl, you get a more solid piece if you don't have the cracks in it. Like someone says, "if it don't hold soup, it's art".
robo hippy